Download Buddy
Windows User Magazine cover 1993
Overview
In early 1993, a few months before my 16th birthday, I wrote a neat little utility called Download Buddy for Windows 3.1. It would detect your connected modem speed, and once the user entered the size of the file it would then tell you how long it would take to download. In modern times it seems quite silly, but back then it was not always clear how long a download might take. Most of the time you had to start downloading it to find out how long it’d take. Download Buddy allowed you to figure it out before you started your download so you could plan your time accordingly.
I had uploaded Download Buddy to AOL (this was pre-internet days for most people) as a shareware program so that others could use this “cool” utility I had written. It got quite a warm response and thousands of people downloaded it. In Spring of 1993, I got an email from a writer at Windows User Magazine saying that they really enjoyed my utility and asked if they could review my program for an upcoming issue.
Full quality pictures of this can be found on my picture gallery.
Download Buddy review
Review
Below is the review from Windows User Magazine, July 1993 edition.
Screen capture
Still looking for an old copy of it